1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to livestock tools and more particularly pertains to a new animal sorting tool with poking tip for humanely sorting animals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of livestock tools is known in the prior art. More specifically, livestock tools heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,793; U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,977; U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,925; U.S. Pat. No. 3,157,000; U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,404; U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,861; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 298,822; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 302,147; EPO Patent No. 0 264 294 A2 (Inventor: McElhaney, et. al.); and PCT Patent No. WO 93/20905 (Inventor: Rovnyak). Particularly relevant are the livestock tools having a baffled rattle box with noisemaking objects inside and an elongate handle extending from the rattle box and which may or may not extend into the rattle box.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new animal sorting tool with poking tip. Furthermore, these devices have many disadvantages. An inherent problem with animal sorting devices is breakage caused by striking the ground and animals, particularly disadvantageous for the devices that rattle in that the noisemaking devices escape from the rattle box, rendering the device silent and thus much less effective. The poking tip of the present invention strikes the ground first, preventing the housing from breaking.
Another problem with these devices is that they are very awkward when used to push a gate open or closed, primarily due to the rounded ends of many of the rattle boxes. The rounded ends tend to slip off of the beam or rod of the gate before it is finally pushed shut, wasting valuable time and perhaps permitting an animal to escape. The poker tip of the present invention creates a corner with the end of the housing which holds a beam or rod of the gate to push the gate closed.
The inventive device overcomes these disadvantages by comprising a housing with first and second ends, a pair of lateral sides extending between the ends, and a pair of panels. The ends, lateral sides, and panels of the housing define an interior of the housing. The housing has a tube extending through the ends of the housing. The tube has an open end positioned towards the first end of the housing and a closed tip portion protruding outwardly from the second end of the housing. A handle is inserted in the tube through the open end and extends into the tip portion of the tube.
In these respects, the animal sorting tool with poking tip according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of humanely sorting animals.